


The Only Song They All Like

by Lush_Specimen



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alien encounter, Gen, Resolved by singing Africa by Toto, Space Adventure, bless the rains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 00:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15449358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lush_Specimen/pseuds/Lush_Specimen
Summary: Still adjusting to having two co-captains, the Lost Light continues of the quest to find the Knights of Cybertron.  Cruising through an uncharted galaxy, they encounter a being of pure energy and unimaginable power.Rodimus decided the best way out of this situation is to sing to the creature.  There is only one song that the entire crew all likes enough to sing along: Africa by Toto.  Time to bless the rains!





	The Only Song They All Like

**Author's Note:**

> A while ago James Roberts held a MTMTE question and answer session on twitter. Someone asked if anyone ever played Africa by Toto on board the Lost Light. He responded by saying, "It's the only song they all like." This information has stayed with me until those few words became thousands. 
> 
> I suggest you read this fic the same way that I wrote it, with Africa by Toto playing on repeat!

The bridge doors swished open for a fiery blur of orange and red as Rodimus somersaulted to the center of the room. He sprung to his feet and planted his hands on his hips, “Look alive everyone! Captain on deck!”

“I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Rodimus yelped and whirled around to find Megatron comfortably reclining in the captain’s chair, arms crossed.

“What are you still doing here?” Rodimus narrowed his optics. “Your shift ended half an hour ago.”

“Someone needs to manage things until whenever you decide to show up,” Megatron smirked.

“First of all, I don’t need to be on the bridge to be captaining! In fact, I captained all the way up here! Second…”

A huge jolt struck the Lost Light, interrupting Rodimus mid-rant and jostling everyone at their posts.

“What the hell is wrong with my ship?!” Rodimus exclaimed.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Megatron shrugged. “You started your shift a half an hour ago, why don’t you tell me.”

Another tremor rocked the ship, this time accompanied by the groan of distressed metal. The potential danger to the crew snapped both co-captains to attention.

“Blaster!” They yelled in unison.

“I got this, Megs,” Rodimus waved dismissively. “Blaster, bring up the exterior cameras on all screens.”

“Aye! Aye! Captain!” Blaster quickly complied and all the vid screens lit up, showing areas of the vast ship not visible from the massive front windows. A strange form of energy, seemingly made up of sparkling silvery violet stardust, struck out at the ship. The blow caused the entire ship to shudder. The entity reconfigured itself, almost cat-like in appearance, and prepared to strike again.

“Oh no…” Megatron said slowly rising to his feet, optics fixed on the shimmering mass swirling around the ship. “Mainframe, divert all auxiliary power to the armor, we need to electrify the entire hull of the ship!”

“Whoa! Whoa!” Rodimus cut him off. “I’m in charge here right now, Mainframe hold off on those orders.” Rodimus opened the ship’s comm system, “Rod Squad, report to the bridge.”

“Rodimus! There isn’t the time for one of your petty power plays! I’ve encountered something like this once before and it tore apart a fleet of Worldsweepers. The whole fleet! We have to destroy it as quickly as possible.”

“No way, Megs! We are not electrocuting the space kitten.”

“Space kitten?! The Lost Light is 15 miles long and that thing dwarfs us. It is a celestial being of unimaginable power not some cuddly juvenile feline, we can’t afford to take a chance.”

“Sometimes all you get in life is a chance, so you might as well take it.”

“What does that even mean?” Megatron sputtered, pacing back and forth across the bridge.

The doors hissed opened and Ultra Magnus entered, tapping away on a data pad, followed closely by Thunderclash. Nautica, Skids and Riptide strolled in next. In fact, a good number of the entire crew slowly accumulated in the command center.

“How many members of the crew are in the Rod Squad anyway?” Megatron grumbled.

“Whoever actually shows up is an honorary member,” Rodimus beamed at the amount of bots that answered his summons. “Since you’re here, welcome to the club, Megs!” 

“Captain. Captain.” Ultra Magnus nodded to both Rodimus and Megatron. “You may not be aware, but…”

“Yes, Mags,” Rodimus sighed. “We know all about the giant space kitten currently swatting the Lost Light to bits.”

“The WHAT?!” Ultra Magnus bellowed and stared at the screens in shock. “I was going to tell you about sprinkler code violations in the engine room.”

The entity, coiled to pounce, reached out a paw-like tendril of crackling energy and smacked the ship on the port side. This time the blow rocked the massive vessel sideways causing several of the smaller bots to lose their footing. Chromedome caught Rewind before he fell and gently lifted him to his shoulders. A metallic groan echoed through the hallways as the armor plates lining the hull shifted on their seams. The crew began to murmur as general concern devolved into fear. 

“Enough!” Megatron yelled. “If we don’t do something, that thing will rip the ship apart. Stop this ridiculous display and let me give the order if you can’t.”

“NO!” Rodimus turned around and jabbed his finger at the autobrand in the center of Megatron’s chest. “The war is over and our first response to any problem can’t be ‘let’s shoot it in the face.’ Not without exploring other options. We can handle this!”

The crew’s attention shifted between Rodimus, Megatron, and the powerful being currently stalking their ship.

“Alright, ship’s genius,” Rodimus cheerfully shouted, returning to his position in the center of the bridge. “Tell me about the space kitten.”

“Well…” Perceptor coughed after a moment of slight hesitation, “the celestial entity in question appears to be comprised of a variety of quantum energy, not entirely dissimilar to the substance that powers our ship’s engines. In fact, their shared atomic affinity might be the cause of conflict. The rhythmic pulse of our quantum drive may be creating a disharmonic resonance within the creature’s own elemental components causing it extreme discomfort. If we reduce the source of the disturbance and introduce a soothing alternative, we may persuade the entity to let us proceed upon our way unmolested.”

After Perceptor finished, a profound silence settled on the deck, the stillness of each passing second stretched for an eternity. No one moved or made the slightest sound, even the ship itself fell uncharacteristically quiet.

“Do you hear that?” Rodimus whispered, disturbing the awkward hush. “That is the sound of a ship full of dead bots. You bored them all to death with your explanation filled with arcane nonsense words from a magical language no one understands. Which is fortunate, really. Now when the space kitten shreds the Lost Light there will be no casualties because everyone is already dead.”

Before Perceptor could respond, a gold and teal jet materialized halfway through the floor between them. The bridge resounded in a chorus of startled screams at the jet’s sudden appearance, especially since the fuselage and wing tips jutted up into the room while the rest of the plane remained unseen beneath the floor.

“Am I too late?” The jet chirped.

“Brainstorm? Is that you?” Perceptor stammered.

“Of course it’s me,” Brainstorm muttered. “Who else could create a device to allow you to shift through matter at a moment’s notice? Granted, it only works for two seconds before it needs to recharge. I really thought I could make it all the way straight to the bridge from my lab if I used my alt mode’s turbine engines to fly directly through the ceiling. So close…”

“That’s… that’s incredible! But, why?”

“I’ve been monitoring the situation. In a time like this, Rodders always asks the ‘ship’s genius’ for an explanation. I wanted to show up at that precise moment and claim the title.”

“Sorry, but you’re a few seconds too late,” Skids shouted from the back of the room, “He already asked. Percy just explained everything.”

“Yes, but did Percy have the forethought to reconfigure the ships comm system into an exterior speaker array for the plan to work? Because I did! You’re welcome.”

A small device strapped to Brainstorm’s left wing tip suddenly lit up green and drawled, “Prepare to deploy.”

“Is that my voice?” Megatron asked.

“No way!” Brainstorm scoffed. “Clearly that was Nautilator. Anyways, that means the device is recharged and I can finish phasing on to the bridge. Percy, could you just give me a tug when I turn it on then I can show Blaster how to engage the new sound system.”

“Oh, come on then,” Perceptor muttered as he wrapped his arms tightly around Brainstorm’s fuselage. 

Brainstorm glowed bright pink and whispered, “Primus! He’s actually doing it!” before shouting, “Okay! Pull!”

When the phase device activated, instead of Perceptor pulling Brainstorm free of the floor, their physical contact allowed both of them to phase through matter. They tumbled through the floor together with a startled shriek and disappeared.

“Well,” Rodimus shook his head, “that all happened very fast and got us nowhere.” The ship lurched with another tremor. “Nautica! You’re an expert on words and quantum mechanics. Can you translate any of Percy’s incantation.”

“Translation really isn’t necessary since all of the words Perceptor used do exist in our language.” Nautica tilted her head to one side in confusion.

“How about you tell me what he meant in twelve words or less?”

“Ooo! Like a game!” Nautica mumbled and counted out several thoughts on her fingers. “How about this: Our quantum engines gave it a headache, singing to it will help! That’s twelve, nailed it!”

“Now that’s something I can work with!” Rodimus nodded. “Nautica is the new ‘ship’s genius’!”

“Brainstorm is gonna be so jealous!” She snickered.

“Okay! Progress! Watch this bit of captaining, Megs, Imma bout to blow your bolts off! Nautica, reduce the power to the quantum engines as low as safely possible. Mainframe, when I give the signal back us away slowly using only the energon thrusters. Blaster, bring up the sound system modifications that Brainstorm mentioned. Who wants to start singing? How about the greatest autobot of all time? Thunders, what have you got for us?”

“Oh wow!” Thunderclash jumped at the sound of Rodimus calling his name. “I am really flattered that you thought of me, but…” he offered a sheepish grin as his face began to glow, “I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

“This is getting even more ridiculous,” Megatron grumbled.

Rodimus ignored his co-captain’s protests and continued undeterred.

“Oh! Oh!” Tailgate bounced up and down, waving his arms wildly. “Cyclonus has been teaching me to sing the traditional anthem ‘Glory to Cybertron, Glinting in the Heavens’ in old cybertronian. We could sing that!”

“NO!” Everyone on the bridge shouted at once.

“Hmph!” Cyclonus huffed and laid a clawed hand gently on Tailgate’s tiny shoulder, “Such an appalling lack of appreciation for true artistry.”

“I think, if we’re all honest with ourselves, there is only one answer to this problem,” Rodimus turned around to face Ultra Magnus, “and it involves long forgotten words and ancient melodies.”

Blaster switched on the speakers and started to play a soothing rhythm on his synthetic keyboard. Riptide squealed with delight.

“Rodimus,” Ultra Magnus started, “I hardly think…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mags, I’m sure you think all the time,” Rodimus cut him off with a wink, “especially about the safety of the ship.”

“Of course I do!” Ultra Magnus yelled in exasperation, “Every day I have to contend with numerous dangers and unforeseen code violations. I take the safety of this ship and every spark on board, including yours, as my personal responsibility!” Most of the crew had already begun tapping the feet or bobbing their heads along with the music.

“Well, Mags,” Rodimus flashed a winning smile, “then just do what you do, and protect the ship.”

Another jolt rocked the ship accompanied by the harsh shriek of rending metal. Before Megatron could object, Rodimus tossed Ultra Magnus what appeared to be a microphone. Magnus snatched it out of the air with one hand, spun around in perfect time with the music and started to sing.  
 _  
I hear the drums echoing tonight  
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation  
She's coming in, 12:30 flight  
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation  
_  
Megatron’s jaw just dropped while Rodimus lit up with a grin that could outshine a thousand suns. The rest of the crew began to buzz with excitement. Riptide kept the beat, drumming on the back of Blaster’s chair.  
 _  
I stopped an old man along the way  
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies  
He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you”  
_  
Rodimus hopped up onto the command console so he could lean back to back with Magnus. Starting with the refrain, he threw himself fully into the performance, singing with gusto. Everyone one the bridge enthusiastically joined in.  
 _  
It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had  
_  
Megatron looked around the bridge, stunned into silence. Magnus’ perfect pitch and melodious voice resonated in his spark. He had no idea that Ultra Magnus could sing, let alone so mesmerizing well. Now that Rodimus made himself the center of attention, the tension eased out of Magnus’s large shoulders, and his singing got even better.  
 _  
The wild dogs cry out in the night  
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company  
I know that I must do what's right  
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti  
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become  
_  
While Magnus crooned the next verse, Rodimus leaped off the console and twirled towards the vid screens. Using his fluid grace and easy charm to keep everyone’s attention fixed on him allowed Mags to just focus on his music. The celestial being pulled back from the ship, what appeared to be its head cocked to one side, its long shimmering tail sweeping back and forth across the cosmos, distorting the surrounding field of stars.

“It’s working everyone!” Rodimus danced his way around the room. “Space kitten looks happy, or maybe just confused, but that’s a step up from angry and in pain. All together now!”  
 _  
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had  
_  
The crew gleefully belted out the refrain while Rodimus continued circulating the bridge, fiery paint flashing as he swayed with the music. He drummed along with Riptide, twirled Skids around, and sang loudly with an arm hooked around Tailgate and Swerve after Cyclonus dodged his grasp. Continuing to follow Magnus’ musical lead, Rodimus smoothly spun away to encourage the rest of the crew.  
 _  
Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you  
_  
Whirling back to the center of the bridge, Rodimus halted mid-spin and pointed at Thunderclash, who was cheerfully humming along, flashed a radiant smile and winked. Thunderclash turned bright pink, clutched his chest and instantly fainted. His dramatic reaction delighted Rodimus, who managed to laugh while still carrying the tune. 

“Come on, Megs,” Rodimus sidled up to his co-captain. “You gotta sing too. You’re part of the crew and I need all hands, or rather all voices, on deck.”

Megatron glared at him. The rest of the crew all sang together so harmoniously, participating to the best of their abilities, but he wasn’t used to being an equal part of a group. He knew how to lead and, though it’s been a long while, how to follow, but this was a new experience. “I… I don’t know the words,” he winced at the lame excuse he managed to stammer out.

“When have you ever let anything as simple as that stop you,” Rodimus elbowed him. “Just follow Mags, it’s what the rest of us are doing. The end part is super easy, it’s basically the same words over and over.”  
 _  
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
(I bless the rain)  
_  
Megatron finally gave in to Rodimus’ goading and began to sing quietly, his deep gruff voice easily falling in behind Ultra Magnus’ perfect pitch. Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Magnus looked up and met Megatron’s optics, the faintest ghost of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.   
__  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
(I bless the rain)  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
(Ah, gonna take the time)  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had  
  
The crew enthusiastically dove into the final refrain together, everyone fully committed to singing at their best and loudest. When the song drew to a close, the surrounding space began rumble so intensely that the vibrations reverberated throughout the entire ship and everyone on board.

“Ship’s genius, what’s going on?” Rodimus asked as he sauntered over to the vid screens. The space kitten rolled around the ship humming contentedly. 

“I think it’s purring,” Nautica responded. “Which, if I remember my feline language queues correctly, is a sound meant to convey pure happiness.”

“Radical!” Rodimus exclaimed. “Great job everyone!” He leapt up to perform a handstand on the railing around the captain’s chair then vaulted himself into a front flip that landed directly in front of the full-length bridge windows. He placed his hands on his hips, drew himself up to his full height and shouted into the speaker system. “Glad you enjoyed our song, space kitten! It’s been real, but we gotta bounce. If we ever meet again, we’ll be happy to perform an encore.”

Rodimus nodded to Mainframe to engage the thrusters and the Lost Light began to inch away from the satisfied celestial being. When it noticed the ship receding, it drew near and butted its head against the nose of the ship. Then it rubbed along the length of the ship, powerful purr rattling the Lost Light down to its circuits. It swirled once more past the bridge in a dazzling display of silver radiance and disappeared into the shimmering vastness of space. Although the cosmos somehow seemed emptier in its absence, all the lights on the ship shone brighter than ever before.

“Umm…Roddy, Captain?” Nautica looked up from the quantum engine controls, optics wide. “When the space kitten touched us the last time it did something to the quantum drive. We now have more power than should be physically possible. We were in the middle of a recharge cycle but now everything is positively brimming with surplus energy.”

“Space kitten’s way of saying thanks, I guess,” Rodimus smiled. “Why don’t you go down and give the quantum engines a once over just to be sure?” 

Nautica grabbed Nightbeat and excitedly ran off to inspect the unexplained power boost to the engines while Rodimus tried to contact Brainstorm on the comm system. After receiving only static and muffled giggling he turned to Riptide and Skids, “You two go check Brainstorm’s lab and make sure him and Percy fell through the floor okay. But maybe knock first,” he added with a wink. Skids snorted and Riptide didn’t even attempt to stifle his laughter.

“Thunderclash?” Rodimus called.

“Is still out,” Tailgate replied.

“He’s fine,” Rodimus snickered, “but get Lotty up here to check on him just in case.” Tailgate saluted and scurried off to the medibay with Cyclonus in tow.

“You know,” Swerve piped up, “I read this earth fable called ‘Sleeping Beauty’ where the beautiful princess is under a sleeping spell and the handsome prince has to…”

“Don’t you have a bar to run,” Rodimus cut him off with a glare.

“Yep! Sure do!” Swerve pointed at Rodimus and then at the door. “Just on my way now! To my bar. That I totally have a license to operate. Oh by the way! Impromptu karaoke night tonight, energon spritzers are half off, everyone come on down!” Swerve shouted and hustled out the door, followed by a most of the off duty crew members, some still humming the tune as they left.

A calm tranquility finally descended upon the bridge. The few remaining bots on duty quietly went about their tasks maintaining the ship’s operations, secretly counting down the time until they could join the rest of the crew at Swerve’s. After all the danger and excitement, the ship itself seemed to settle into relieved contentment, glowing brightly with newly bestowed energy.

Rodimus leaned over to Megatron and rapped the autobrand in the center of his chest, “And that, my dear Megs, is how you captain!”

To the fiery speedster’s surprise, Megatron looked down on him with warmth in his optics. Rodimus flinched when Megatron laid a large scarred hand on his slight shoulder but he stood his ground.

“That was an incredible display of creative leadership,” Megatron smiled and Rodimus’ jaw just dropped. “We encountered an unfathomable being, which endangered and terrified the crew. I was prepared to resolve the situation quickly albeit violently, but you brought everyone together, allayed their fears, and utilized everyone’s unique talents to discover an imaginative solution that worked out the best for all involved. Well done, Rodimus.” 

For a split second Rodimus’ confident façade fell away and his face burned with pure unadulterated joy. His blue optics sparkled with happiness and relief like he just found the one thing he was so desperately searching for all of his long life. Megatron gave his shoulder a tentative squeeze and flames danced along the edges of Rodimus’ spoiler. After the brilliant display of sincere emotion, his mask of charming bravado slipped easily back into place. 

“Like you’d expect anything less,” Rodimus shrugged. “Well, thanks for hanging out with us but I got this from here. You can go back to your room and brood or whatever.”

“I do not brood,” Megatron mumbled. “For you information, I have been invited to give a poetry reading at Visages, for which I am already late.” He cast a hopeful glance over his shoulder towards Ultra Magnus, “In case anyone was interested in attending.”

Rodimus watched as Ultra Magnus looked up from his data pad to meet Megatron’s optics for the briefest of seconds before turning away far too quickly. A mischievous smile spread across his face and as soon as the doors hissed shut behind Megatron’s back, he bounded over to Magnus.

“Hey, Mags!” He wormed his way between Ultra Magnus and his data pad so he couldn’t be ignored. “Thank you for once again saving the ship.”

“I don’t know how you keep talking me into such things,” Ultra Magnus sighed, closing the open file on his data pad and slipping it into his pocket. 

“It’s not all that hard, really,” Rodimus scrunched his face. “Anyways, we couldn’t have done it without you. In fact, why don’t you celebrate by ending your shift a little early and go have a drink on me. I hear Mirage mixes a perfectly efficient energon spritzer.”

Magnus brightened at the suggestion, “You know, I have been meaning to inspect the fire sprinkler system in Visages.”

“No time like the present!” Rodimus thumped him on the back and guided him out the same door that Megatron just left. 

Practically alone now on the bridge, Rodimus flopped down sideways on the captain’s chair, back against one armrest, legs casually dangling over the other. He brought up the ship’s internal memory and downloaded all the command center recordings from the space kitten incident into his own personal data file. The crew actually sounded pretty good singing together and he wanted to listen to it again later. 

He nestled more comfortably into the chair and cast a quick glance around the bridge to make sure, that for once, no one was paying attention to him. He fast-forwarded to near the end of the file and quietly replayed the last bit of Megatron’s compliment, “Well done, Rodimus.” He grinned, rewound it and played it again, “Well done, Rodimus.” Smiling he slouched a little lower, enjoying the serenity of the command center after a crisis. The soft hum and gentle chirps signifying normal operations of all the ship’s systems and the knowledge that his crew that trusted him enough to sing to entity of untold power, resonated in his spark. Although he should have started his rounds an hour ago, it wouldn’t hurt to listen to it one more time, “Well done, Rodimus.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! 
> 
> Also, if you wanna know what Ultra Magnus was typing on his datapad, check out:  
> "Gone With the Sprinklers": https://archiveofourown.org/works/15283584
> 
> I always appreciate kudos and love reading your comments, they always make my day!
> 
> Bless the rains!


End file.
